Holly Williams and her crew from Britain’s Sky News were detained twice in two days in January near the North Korean border, where they were doing a story about signs of North Korean poverty which were evident in China.
On the first occasion secret police detained the crew then handed them over to local police, who said they themselves “still hadn’t grasped” the new regulations. After a couple hours the journalists were released, following a call to the foreign ministry.
The following day, a military officer grabbed their camera while they were filming and gave it back only after the crew agreed to go with him to a nearby military base. They were held there for several hours and eventually released after a second call to the foreign ministry that day.
Sky News employees also have been compelled to stop reporting in Tiananmen Square and reprimanded officially regarding a story on the state of China’s zoos.